An Analysis of A Separate Peace by John Knowles

“A Separate Peace”: Book Talk Entry: Question 2In A Separate Peace, Gene Forrester is the narrator of the story. The book is written of the events that take place in his memory of his high school years he recalls from fifteen years earlier. Gene narrates the book in first person point of view, describing everything from his perspective and as he remembers them. Sometimes during the book it is difficult to keep up with the narrator as sometimes he seems to be talking as the younger gene as if the events he is recalling are happening as he speaks. Also, because we are only getting gene’s perspective, we don’t know whether everything that happens between the boys is exactly how it happened. It’s kind of like if a brother and sister were in some kind of trouble they each would twist around the story to make themself look better or the other look worst. This makes Gene as a narrator unreliable. The reality of the story would be most reliable with an omniscient perspective, meaning the narrator would be of a higher power and hold knowledge of each character’s internal feelings. However with a book like “A Separate Peace”, knowing everything basically eliminates the storyline and the factors that make the story interesting. For example, if we knew from the start that Phineas was never really jealous towards Gene, Gene would become more of a negative character in our minds because we would only see Gene’s jealousy. We also wouldn’t understand Gene’s shock as he discovers Phineas’ retaliating admiration to him as we do when we learn it further into the book.

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Obstacles after obstacles came in the path to success. In the novel A SeparatePeace, JohnKnowles revealed a very strong idea through one of his characters. Through Gene it was revealed that weak individual who once was weak morally and mentally can become a strong and a more matured person. JohnKnowles revealed this idea through Gene's perspective; symbolism; and also Gene's speech/action.
Gene had proved many things through only his perspective. He had intriguing thoughts, which gave many idea's about Gene post personality and his surroundings. "Looking back now across fifteen years, I could see with great clarity the fear I had lived in " (Pg.2) This quote thus revealed that Gene was quite a weak individual. For if someone who lives in fear is considered morally weak, scared of the society and shy, insecure and who had a lack of confidence. Which Gene was in the beginning of the novel. "Yes he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me." (Pg. 25) This quote exposed that Gene was in the middle of his mental metamorphosis. Gene in the first part of his quote seemed strong, but when he twisted it to make Finny, his best friend look bad, he still seemed to be morally weak, but in a more stronger moral state then before. " Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I...

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The novel A SeparatePeace is a story about two best friends, Gene and Phineas (Finny), who both attend the Devon school in New Hampshire in 1942. Gene Forrester is an intellectual, confined, straight-laced seventeen year old, while Finny is an athletic free-spirit who isn't afraid to say what he thinks and is admired by everyone. The story is a flashback in which Gene recalls his fears and insecurities during the midst of the Second World War at the Devon school. Out of jealousy and the fear that Finny is trying to sabotage his studies, Gene shakes a tree branch that they were both standing on, and Finny falls out of the tree and shatters his leg. It is at that point where their relationship changes into more of a codependency which leads to them developing their own individual identities by living within their own illusion that World War II is a mere conspiracy. Finny dies suddenly during the operation on his broken leg , but Gene doesn't cry. He deals with the tragic news with a sort of tranquility because he believes that he is a part of Finny. Gene reflects on the constant enmity which takes over the present youth, and he believes only Finny was immune to this plague.
A SeparatePeace is a novel that criticizes society, based on a romantic point of view of human nature. Firstly, Gene's aggressive nature is being nurtured by...

...2011
Gene – Savage or Not?
In the novel, A SeparatePeace by JohnKnowles, the two main characters named Finny and Gene, undergo some drastic personality changes – Gene more so than Finny. The changes that Gene goes through cause him to appear different to how he usually acts overall as a person. Gene’s “savage like” personality appears to some people like Leper because of the bad influence being Finny especially with the various activities that occur inside and outside of the school like blitzball, Finny breaking the school swimming record, Finny and Gene going to the beach, and the time during the holidays for Gene without Finny.
Throughout the story, Gene very much progresses as a character not only physically but more so internally like mentally and emotionally but in both good and bad ways. Finny becomes a bad influence for Gene. He is careless, not focused, not concerned, and somewhat immature. Finny focuses more on sports and athletics rather than school work and academics, which is what Gene excels at and is focused on. The bad characteristics rub off onto Gene so he becomes basically well Finny, which Gene actually tries to do because he is unsure of himself as a person. Gene’s savage personality is demonstrated through blitzball when Gene says, “Still mine? Nobody else has had the ball but me, for God’s sakes!” because Gene seems angered which is unusual for him because normally he is...

... In JohnKnowles’ novel A SeparatePeace, which chronicles the maturity of a group of prep-school friends, Gene Forrester, Quackenbush and Brinker, three prep-school students, often are subject to their emotions and personalities so as to harm others. They can be pushed to harm in both physical and emotional ways. Each of these boys has something—Gene’s jealousy, Quackenbush’s frustration, or Brinker’s pride—that drives them to hurt and brings out the worst in their characters.
Gene Forrester, the narrator and protagonist of A SeparatePeace, as an adult recalls himself in his teenage years at Devon School: an intellectual boy who tends to analyze the motives of everyone else around him. At times in the novel, Gene is dependable, courageous, and mature. At other times, however, and mostly toward the beginning, he is insecure, competitive, jealous and fearful. Gene is always comparing himself to his best friend, Finny, and often he falls short in his estimation. Although Gene is obviously the more intellectual of the two, Finny is an outstanding athlete, having received many awards, and is the most self-confident person Gene knows. It is this self-confidence and charm that allows Finny to break school rules and simply talk his way out of punishment. For example, when the boys miss dinner one night, Mr. Prud’homme comes to talk to them. “As Mr. Prud’homme looked at [Finny] and...

...A SeparatePeace
By: Anonymous
E-mail: intrepidhp@home.com
A SeparatePeace A SeparatePeace is a novel by JohnKnowles that is about prep school experiences during World War II. This book was a good story about an adolescents attempt to understand the world and himself. I enjoyed reading about Gene's journey towards maturity and the adult world. This book takes place in Devon School, New Hampshire during a summer session when Gene Forrester was sixteen years old. One day Gene and Finny, his friend and roommate, went to a large tree by the river. Finny suggested that they try and jump from the tree into the river below them. This jump was usually for older boys. But they both made the jump successfully, and Finny formed the Summer Suicide Society, which is dedicated to members being initiated by jumping from the tree to the river. Each time, Gene and Finny must go first, but Gene always has a fear of jumping. Finny always was considered the best athlete in school, and Gene tried to counterbalance by being the best student. After a while of joining Finny's activities, Gene thinks that Finny is intentionally trying to make him fail out of school. He starts to dislike Finny and his activities, and Gene starts interrupting his schoolwork to jump from the tree more and more often. On one occasion, he thoughtlessly jounces the limb and Finny falls and breaks...

...him about the fact that he has not made any steps towards enlisting and says that Gene isn't joining the war because he pitied Finny, who could jot join because of his hurt leg.
Later in the novel, right before the "trial" in the assembly hall Finny finally has a conversation with Gene where he states that he in no longer going to keep himself sheltered from the fact that there was a war going on. He stated that If the war could make somebody as crazy as it had made Leper then admit had to be real. "That's the world, we might as well admit it. Leper's gone crazy; When I heard about Leper, I knew that the war was real, this war and all the other wars. If a war can drive somebody crazy, then its real all rite. Oh I guess I always knew " (Knowles 155) This quote, spoken by Finny occurs when Finny is final able to stop hiding from reality and admit that there was a war going on....

...Brandon Wilde
Mrs. Jones
4th Honors Lit/Comp
30 March 2011
Gene’s War
In A SeparatePeace by JohnKnowles, Gene Forrester returns to Devon School. While he is there, he remembers all the good memories and adventures that he had with his best friend Phineas while WWII took place. As a quick and irrational action, Gene jolts the limb of the tree they were on causing Finny to fall to the end of his athletic career and all hopes of making it to the Olympics are shattered. Gene, wallowing in guilt, agrees to fill in for Finny and Gene begins to train for the Olympics. Although Gene and Finny were getting along, Brinker forced Finny to accept the fact that Gene had jostled the limb on purpose ruining the friendship bond between Finny and Gene. However, when Finny fell down the stairs and re-broke his leg, Gene comes to visit but finds that Finny is dead. Throughout the novel Gene was at war with himself, Finny, and Brinker the whole time, even without going to the war.
Gene was at war with himself from the very start. He was fighting his savage heart and his jealousy and hatred towards Finny. Gene had to face the fact that he had purposely injured Finny even though Finny had not done anything wrong. Gene fought himself while debating if he should enlist or if he should stay at Devon School. His fear for losing and being looked down upon was another major enemy in Gene’s life at school.
Gene had to fight against...

..." It seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart."
The background of "A separatePeace" is the Second World War and the focus of book is a group of sixteen-year-old boys who are moving towards a war. The extract comes from the end of the book where Due to what Gene had done to Finny, he has been made to look at himself and now sees the war differently from the other boys. Gene has been forced to face his own "ignorant heart," and he now feels that he understands that people can be evil and hurt those who love them. Gene now knows that wars are created not by generations but by the human "ignorant heart".
In "A separatePeace" there are two wars being fought. The major war is Word War Two while the other war is the one that Gene tries to create between himself and Finny. This is war is always a single sided battle, as it is both created and fought in the mind of Gene.
At the beginning of this novel Gene is very "Ignorant" of his heart. He constantly lies, not only to others but also to him self. Finny on the other hand is a very honest person, he never lies about anything to make him sound or feel better about himself. An example of this is the incident where the boys are asked their height and Genes says he is 5'9 and Finny corrects him by saying, "no your five foot eight and a half, the same as...